Rerouting...
Rock slides closed Route 611 for months. The financial toll may be ruinous for businesses, residents.
The breaking point is looming for Janet Futchko and her downtown Portland business, Janet’s Jems Thrift Shoppe. Commerce is down 50% and bills for such things as rent and utilities are almost due.
“I don’t know,” said Futchko, who has been in business for seven years. “I have to see what’s going on. If not, I’m going to look and see what the next month or so brings in. If I have to close, then I have to close, there’s nothing I can do. I can’t continue to lose money and I don’t even care if I break even.”
Janet’s Jems is one of a half-dozen businesses in the Northampton County borough that is coping with an extended detour of Route 611 through the Delaware Water Gap and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area into Monroe County. A barricade stops cars about 1 ½ miles north of Portland.
The highway has been closed since Dec. 6 because of a rock slide caused by heavy rains. It will take at least through August to clear the rocks and remove additional loose rocks, PennDOT says.
The popular route through the narrow valley usually has a steady stream of cars and trucks looking for a scenic route to the Poconos or a convenient way to the Stroudsburg area for shopping. Crossing into New Jersey and taking Interstate 80 on the other side of the Delaware River can be quicker, but two toll bridges and a steady stream of tractor-trailer traffic can make, for some, a hair-raising drive on the curvy freeway.
“If I have to close, then I have to close, there’s nothing I can do. I can’t continue to lose money and I don’t even care if I break even.” — Janet Futchko, owner of Janet’s Jems Thrift Shoppe
According to PennDOT, the average traffic count for Route 611 through Portland was 3,600 vehicles per day. Janet’s Jems Thrift Shoppe attracted plenty of customers who saw the storefront while passing through town, Futchko said.
“I have people come in and say that when they found this they were just coming through,” she said. “They saw our sign and they turned around.”
Nicolay Mazhirov, who owns Alexandra and Nicolay Chocolate, an artisan candy store, says one of his most loyal customers from Stroudsburg has stopped making the trip to Portland for sweets.
“He’s 86 years old and he called me to say, ‘Sorry, we can’t come with the road closed and 80 is too big,’ ” said Mazhirov, who has been in Portland since 2010. “There was a bus tour who would stop by, but he couldn’t come because of the $10 tolls.”
Mazhirov said the business was down during Christmas, which is usually his busiest time of the year. He’s not holding out hope for Valentine’s Day or Easter.“I didn’t even do 50% of my normal business,” he said.
Crossing over, and back
Like many bridges between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, motorists pay only when leaving the Garden State. To cross to Portland from Columbia, New Jersey, it’s $1.25 for E-ZPass holders and $3 for those without. The rates are similar for the Delaware Water Gap Bridge that carries Interstate 80 over the Delaware about 5 miles north of Portland. Like the bridge at Columbia, tolls are collected for westbound traffic only.
That means commuters and shoppers going to Stroudsburg have to pay double tolls for the 20-mile round trip.
The Delaware River Joint Bridge Toll Commission offers a 20% commuter discount with E-ZPass, but the tolls add up with daily trips, especially for those used to traveling Route 611 for free.
“It’s devastating,” Portland Mayor Heather Fisher said.
“We feel really impacted, my business and the entire community,” said Yudelky Schomberg, who opened Port 2 Flavors, a fast casual restaurant, last year. “Going back and forth to home, you’re paying twice.”
Schomberg said some drivers who make restaurant deliveries in New Jersey have complained about the tolls, as have customers who come across the river for a meal.
“My customers when they place an order are affected and the drivers don’t want to have to pay twice to be able to come home and pick up items,” she said. “As a business owner, you feel for them because they’re trying to make a living off of it. It’s affecting everybody.”
Futchko said she has offered to pay tolls to customers who make the trip.
“I offered to pay their tolls just to come into Portland, come in and see everything,” she said. “You know, you don’t even have to show up here, but at least it gives other people business down the street. At least they’re in town. They know we’re here.”
Fisher also worries an emergency could close I-80, forcing lengthy detours.
“When there’s an accident on 80, and there’s a backup or there’s construction, they all come through Portland,” she said. “So in the many months that 611 will be closed, there’s going to be issues and I am not looking forward to seeing what happens. It’s just a perfect storm. How many times is that going to happen during the course of the work?”
In design stage
For those not wanting to travel into New Jersey, PennDOT has set up a 10-mile detour between Cherry Valley Road/Oak Street in Delaware Water Gap and Slateford Road in Upper Mount Bethel Township. Motorists can travel Routes 512, 33, 209, Business Route 209 and I-80, PennDOT said.
Meanwhile, PennDOT is pushing forward with removing the remaining loose rocks and shoring up the landscape to prevent further slides.
“We are currently in design for a project for the closed section of PA 611,” PennDOT spokesperson Sean Brown said in an email. “With the project, our contractor will be removing loose rocks, drilling anchors into the rock, and then installing wire mesh and concrete buttresses to secure the rock.
“We are currently working to finish the design work and secure the emergency permits to be able to perform the work,” Brown said. “Once we have our permits, we will be able to begin construction. Work is estimated to take six months.”
December’s rock slide was near the same vicinity of an April shutdown of Route 611 to repair damage sustained during a storm.
For those in Portland, having to continue coping with it for several additional months is especially frustrating.
“It’s been two months, what are you doing?” Mazhirov asked. “Why are they still contemplating? No one is doing anything. It’s a strong case of bureaucracy. It’s hard getting anyone to take responsibility.”
Seeking a solution
Fisher said a meeting has been scheduled with state Rep. Ann Flood, while the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce also offered to help the businesses. One of the detour signs on the south entrance to Portland tells motorists that businesses are still open.
Still, the mayor is worried that time may run out for the businesses that also include a Dunkin’, Fuhrer’s Tavern & Grill and Portland Auto Repair. Fisher said there was no contingency plan in case of a major road closure.
“A lot of the businesses may not have what it takes to be able to get to the end of it because so much traffic came through to Delaware Water Gap and we’re finding that there really isn’t too much in place for this type of situation,” Fisher said. “I definitely give hats off to Rep. Flood, she definitely hit the ground running. She’s looking at every avenue and she’s been talking to people that didn’t even know what was going on, or maybe it will have an impact in Harrisburg.”
Flood told The Morning Call that an emergency declaration is in place to make sure funds for the Route 611 repairs are in place. She also said she’s talking to PennDOT about opening the highway on the weekends.
“I spoke with PennDOT about seeing if we could have the road open on the weekends after they shave off all the loose rocks,” Flood said, “for access to the small businesses while people on the weekend are going up to the national park and also for some of the tour groups that come in the summertime for the tubing and kayaking and things like that.”
A meeting is set for Wednesday between Flood, the chamber and the businesses.
For Futchko, a volunteer EMT and firefighter, closing her store would be heartbreaking. She has invited people displaced from fires to come to her store and pick out items they need, from clothing to dishes.
“That’s why I’m like, it’s going to kill me if I have to close my doors,” Futchko said. “I do this for the people and give them the little things that they need.”